HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-06-26 (Worksession) EULESS CITY COUNCIL
` . WORK SESSION
JUNE 26, 2001
CALL TO ORDER
The City Council Work Session was called to order at 3:09 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26,
2001, in the executive conference room at Building A of the Euless Municipal Complex,
201 N. Ector Drive, Euless, Texas.
Those present included Mayor Pro Tern Carl Tyson, Council Members Leon Hogg, Bob
Edwards, Charlie Miller, Glenn Porterfield, and Veva Lou Massey. Mayor Saleh was
absent.
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT
City Manager Joe Hennig, Deputy City Manager Gary McKamie, Deputy City Secretary
Becky Null, Fire Chief Lee Koontz, Police Chief Leonard Carmack, Assistant Police
Chief Bob Freeman, Deputy Fire Chief Don Wilson, Fire Lt. Jerry Sutton, Police
Corporal Scott Peterson, and Police Corporal Bo Berry.
DISCUSSION WITH THE EULESS POLICE AND FIRE ASSOCIATIONS REGARDING
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AND COMPENSATION
City Manager Joe Hennig stated that he has met with both the Euless Police Officers
Association and the Euless Fire Fighters Association. Both associations have turned in
salary compensation recommendations they feel are in line with comparable area cities.
In a meeting last week with the associations, they were informed that administration
was looking somewhere around a 7% salary increase. This still does not quite get the
salaries up there due to other cities increasing their salaries. The police and fire
associations do not feel 7% is enough and asked to discuss the issue with the city
council.
Police Corporal Scott Peterson, President of the Euless Police Officers Association,
made a presentation and distributed a survey regarding the police salaries of similar
cities which included Bedford, Duncanville, Lewisville, Grapevine, North Richland Hills,
and Hurst. The association is requesting salaries that will allow them to be competitive
with similar cities. Euless is below the average pay of other cities and is having a
problem hiring new officers.
Fire Lt. Jerry Sutton, President of the Euless Fire Fighters Association, made a
presentation and distributed a salary survey with the same cities. He stated that Euless
is currently 3.5 to 7% behind the average of other cities with the most critical being the
starting salary of entry fire fighters. This causes problems in being able to hire new
employees. They are requesting at least average pay with other cities. He proposed
9% salary increase across the board with the exception that entry fire fighters receive a
12% salary increase.
City Council Work Session Page 2 of 2 June 26, 2001
stop, Police Chief Carmack stated that police officers are in a different category than other
employees. He noted that closer to retirement it is harder to put them on patrol. He
asked the council to consider 20 year retirement. He noted that Euless has an excellent
police department and they could not afford to compensate.
Fire Chief Koontz noted that in the last testing there were 128 at the beginning and
there ended up being only 38 paramedics for 10 cities to hire from.
Police Chief Carmack stated that about 1 in 10 applicants pass the hiring process.
Fire Chief Koontz agreed that there is a problem with the recruiting salary of fire
fighters. He noted that fire fighters in Euless are performing two roles—fire fighter and
paramedic. Some cities being compared only do one job. He stated that Euless has
very dedicated police and fire departments.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 3:55 p.m.
,,r,,. Becky Null, RMC. CMC
Deputy City Secretary